“I could not get it together”: The Australian Story that broke Leigh Sales in a way 7.30 never did

For years, Leigh Sales built her reputation on being the journalist who could remain composed when the pressure was at its highest.

On Lateline and 7.30, she questioned some of Australia’s most powerful political figures without allowing emotion to take over.

But behind the polished television persona, there is another side to Leigh — one that has become increasingly visible since she stepped away from daily news and began telling the deeply personal stories featured on Australian Story.

And one story, in particular, proved almost impossible for her to watch without breaking down.

“I had to leave work”

Leigh has admitted that she was so overwhelmed while watching an early 2026 episode of Australian Story that she simply could not continue working.

“I had to leave work because I was crying so hard and I just could not get it together,” she recalled.

It was a striking admission from a broadcaster who spent decades learning how to keep her emotions firmly under control.

Now, Leigh says, she no longer feels the same need to suppress them.

“I cry all the time. It’s such a relief,” she said.

The story behind those tears was Raising Richard, an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Perth mother Deirdre Croft and her son Richard Rook.

The mother who has spent a lifetime preparing for one impossible question

Deirdre, now 72, has devoted much of her life to caring for and advocating for Richard, who is 45 and has a profound intellectual disability.

Their story is unusual not simply because of the length of time it has been documented, but because filmmaker Andrew Wiseman has followed the family for more than three decades.

As a young boy, Richard was filmed growing up alongside his mother. Decades later, the cameras returned.

But this time, the question at the heart of the story had become painfully urgent:

Who will care for Richard when Deirdre is no longer there?

ABC reported that Deirdre is Richard’s only surviving parent and that declining health has intensified her determination to make sure her son will be supported in the future.

She has even begun recording video messages for Richard — a kind of time capsule of her love that she hopes he will be able to watch after she is gone.

For Leigh, who is also a mother, the story struck somewhere much closer to home.

“It’s nearly making me cry to talk about it,” she admitted.

Why this story affected Leigh so deeply

The emotional impact was not simply about sadness.

Leigh saw something universal in Deirdre’s story: a parent confronting the terrifying possibility that one day they will no longer be there to protect their child.

The ABC episode captures decades of Deirdre and Richard’s relationship, including moments of tenderness, humour and profound love alongside the uncertainty about what lies ahead.

Deirdre has described Richard as completely dependent on others to help him navigate the world, while also describing the extraordinary bond between them.

The result is not simply a story about disability or ageing. It is a story about motherhood, responsibility, love and what happens when the person who has spent a lifetime caring for someone must finally prepare for a future without them.

ABC described the story as one faced by thousands of Australian parents caring for children who cannot live independently.

A very different Leigh Sales

The emotional freedom Leigh describes marks a significant change from the years she spent in news and current affairs.

During her time on 7.30 and Lateline, she had to maintain a professional distance even when interviewing people experiencing extraordinary personal hardship.

Now, on Australian Story, she is able to watch the stories more like an ordinary viewer.

She has described that as a relief — being able to respond emotionally rather than constantly having to regulate those reactions.

That difference is also part of what she believes makes Australian Story so powerful.

News can capture the most dramatic moment in someone’s life. Australian Story, by contrast, has the time to show what comes before and after it — the grief, the joy, the setbacks, the humour and the moments of transformation.

30 years of stories — and counting

The timing of Leigh’s reflections is particularly significant.

Australian Story is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, having broadcast more than 1,400 episodes since its launch in May 1996.

Leigh is now at the centre of that milestone as the program’s presenter.

ABC has also prepared a special 70-minute anniversary program filmed at the Sydney Opera House, bringing together former participants, musicians and some of the people who helped shape the program over three decades. The special is scheduled to air on August 31.

For Leigh, however, the show’s success appears to come down to something much simpler than television ratings or celebrity interviews.

It is the ability to recognise something of ourselves in somebody else’s life.

From the Franklin River to a lost dachshund

Not every story affects Leigh in the same way.

One of her favourites is The River, the two-part 2025 story about Lithuanian rafter Valdas Bieliauskas, who became trapped in the rapids of Tasmania’s Franklin River.

The rescue became a desperate race against time, with rescuers eventually facing the possibility of amputating Valdas’s leg to save his life.

Leigh has described the story as gripping enough to rival anything she might watch on a streaming service.

And then there was Valerie — the miniature dachshund whose extraordinary disappearance and survival on Kangaroo Island provided a very different kind of Australian Story.

It made Leigh laugh rather than cry.

That contrast is exactly what she believes the program does best.

Life, she says, is not made up exclusively of tragedy. Terrible experiences can exist alongside moments of joy, humour and unexpected hope.

Life after 7.30

Leigh’s move away from daily political journalism could once have looked like a major career departure.

After 12 years at 7.30, she eventually stepped away from the anchor’s chair and moved towards long-form storytelling.

But looking back, she has suggested that the decision felt surprisingly natural.

Australian Story offered her the chance to explore the part of journalism she had always valued — people, their experiences and the stories that remain long after the headlines disappear.

She has also continued her work beyond the program, including mentoring autistic journalism students involved with The Assembly.

And despite spending more than three decades in Australian television and radio, Leigh remains relatively private about her personal life.

That makes her admission about crying all the more revealing.

“I’m just living and enjoying it”

Away from work, Leigh says she has become more conscious of slowing down and appreciating the present rather than constantly rushing towards the next challenge.

She watches a mixture of television, including Survivor, RuPaul’s Drag Race and Family Guy with her children.

Her outlook now appears markedly different from the relentless pace of her earlier career.

“When I was younger, I was always in a rush to move on to the next thing, the next exciting challenge,” she has said.

Now, she says, she is focused on enjoying the moment.

And perhaps that is why the emotional side of Australian Story has resonated so strongly with her.

After years spent reporting on the biggest moments in other people’s lives, Leigh Sales is no longer required to stand outside the story.

Sometimes, she can simply sit with it.

And sometimes, she cries.

“I cry all the time. It’s such a relief.”